An update? Yes, yes there is....

In time for the 2nd anniversary of the game, they finally rolled out the rest (?) of the 2.9 updated, promised so long ago (back in November).

There's an article on it at Massively.com, which is how I heard. And looking at the comments, it seems that Neume is back on the game as well. While he's a bit weaselly, at least he's not a jerk like that Raiden guy.

Anyway, depending on how things go, I might be back for 3.0, but the rest of 2.9 doesn't seem to have much for me. Claire, which IIRC, requires an obscenely rare monster to kill or get a drop from. And even after you get her, just isn't that good.

I actually am getting a little burned out of Atlantica. But in that case, it's because I've basically reached the endgame. While I haven't reached the level cap (which is 120), I have basically hit their equivalent of "Expert" (113th level), which lets you use the best gear in the game.

In Sword, I'm only 40% to Expert, and that's only for my scout! My fighter and musketeer are only in their 20%s, if I remember correctly. And I would play 7-8 hours a day sometimes. Maybe if I ever get a better internet connection and can afk all day. But that doesn't seem likely.

Another month, no playing sword...

Ugh. Even if I wanted to play Sword now, I couldn't. My internet is acting up again. Have I said I really hated Verizon? Well, I still do. Can't stay connected for more than 5-15 minutes, which makes it impossible to play anything.

Also, can't really even follow the game anymore, as the official forums for the game seem really screwed up...

OT: Killed my first Spartan (and Pirate, too)

Still happily playing Atlantica Online. Reached 95, which is basically their equivalent of "Veteran". The slog to 120 (I guess their version of Expert) is pretty slow, but there are steps between the the two, unlike in Sword.

Anyway, I'm advancing pretty well in the automated PvP tournaments. My winning percentage is a pretty steady 44%, but winning 3 out of 8 still brings me in about 5 million per tournament, which isn't bad.

Just recently, I ran into two of the higher types of mercenaries available in the game (B Grade). They cost hundreds of millions (or billions) to acquire in game and are really tough apparently.

And yet while I didn't win, I came pretty close, despite having guys about 5 levels lower and mostly D grade ones.

3.0 at the end of May?

Finally we've gotten a vague date at least out of the new AM for the game, "Raven".

Better than no date, I suppose.

He seems more forthright than Neume, though.

Q. Obviously Neume was stalling/didn't know the situation at IMC, can you explain what happened between K2 and IMC that communication broke down so badly?

A. .. same here, Business Related.. Only my boss knows the details, but things are back in good shape and working smoothly

Neume would either lie or ignore that question.

K2 takes action against Dupers...

But the dupers strike back, apparently. K2 seems to have banned some of the dupers main accounts on Illier, but not their alt accounts. So at least one of the people on Illier got on his alt and dropped 100s of duped items for people to pick up.

Apparently this caused K2 to do a rollback of Illier.

I feel sorry for the 3 people who play there.

Another week...

Still doesn't look like any word of update on a patch for Sword. The new AM Guin seems to be about as good at saying nothing as Neume.

In my own MMORPG news, I'm up to level 89 in Atlantica. For that game, "Vet" is really at 95, so I'm getting close. I wouldn't say I'm burning out of it, but I've heard bad things about the end game. So I don't know how much longer I shall play. It's been fun though.

LOTRO also came out with a big patch, a gig's worth, adding a new Elf area. I haven't even made it to Moria yet, but I logged in and played a few hours.

They changed the xp requirements for levels in that, to make leveling slightly easier (or smoother). In approximately 190 hours playing it, I had reached level 37. The changed xp chart bumped me up to 38 4/5s.

What's new in Sword?

Well, from reading the official forums, sounds like the servers, or at least Orpesia, are having trouble with the hamsters that power them.

Still no apparent word of when the rest of 2.9 (or 3.0) is coming, so who knows when (or at this point, if) I'll be back.

In Atlantica I'm up to 85th (almost 86th level). I've now spent $20 on that game (buying 4 merc rooms, that game's version of quarter slots. The cash shop there is expensive!)

In LOTRO I've been playing once in a while, now up to level 37. They're about to roll out a big update there in the next couple weeks.

Right now though, I'm not playing much of anything because my internet is screwed up again. Constant disconnects, which makes play games almost impossible, and even just browsing not much fun.

And every time you call Verizon for help, they are just so clueless. "Oh, just update your networking program." Uh, no, that's not the problem. Your lousy network is the problem. If you spent half the money you do advertising saying how great you are, actually improving your network, I wouldn't be having this problem.

As much as I hate them though, my contract is up at the end of the year and I'm afraid I'll be out of options then. Verizon no longer offers the unlimited plan (which I have), but charging a quarter for every megabyte after 5 gigs. My normal usage in a month is about 15 gigs, which would run about $2000. Oy!

Hughesnet is an option, but not a very good one. And it's horrible for gaming, so I might be out of MMORPGs for a few years....

But I got 8 months left, so no need to completely panic yet. But at this rate, disconnecting every 15 minutes, I won't be playing games in those 8 months, either.

Well, another week...

Doesn't seem like anything new on the Sword front.

I'm still having a lot of fun with Atlantica, so I don't know when I'll be back.

Just hit level 73 (it goes up to 120, like Sword).

One of the fun things about Atlantica is the PvP tournaments every few hours. Basically you just hit a button to apply, and you automatically get matched up with opponents (8 in a tournament which lasts 80 minutes, one every 10 minutes).

For someone who doesn't normally like PvP, I'm enjoying the heck out of it. I've got like 120 matches so far. My record stinks, 44-75, but I'm still having fun. Up to Division 9 (out of 18).

Although I'm not very good, it's still a thrill when I managed to beat higher level opponents. I just beat a 89 and then a 92! That's a pretty big difference, since you get new gear every 10 levels or so (and I've got nothing special).

The nice thing is you get prizes for winning and even losing. Gold (not CS money, but regular in game stuff) and experience books. You also earn points (either way) which can be used to get stuff.

My internet is really sucking though, and it's problematic because in these fights you only have 25 seconds to move 5 guys. That might not sound so bad, but you have to wait until the attack animations are done to make your next move sometimes (like seeing if you killed a guy or not).

And I'm starting to get a little disenchanted with the quest aspect of the game. There are quests, but the difficulty seems to have been ramped up once I hit 70 (set in Egypt). As either a way to fight botters or sell a CS item, they sneak in bosses with the mobs. I can't beat the bosses, so I have to run from them. And there are a lot, I've been running from half my fights...

Still on hiatus...

Was going to log in if they had any V-day contest. But apparently not, so I didn't. Still playing Atlantica. Just got a horse!

The cash shop is a little expensive there, but you can buy most items. The horse cost me 15.8 million, but goes for $10 in the CS. So far in a month and a half of playing I've earned about 30 million? 25? At my level, 68, I can make half a million a day grinding, about a million by fighting in two full free leagues (PvP), and selling stuff I get adds a lot as well.

Strangely though, the horse was only 15.8 million, but the ratio seems to be about 50-60 million per $10 of CS items. I have no idea why the horse was so cheap, but having a speed boost is useful. Beats walking.

Target Cards now worth more gold!

I've used these, because I've had problems (who hasn't?) with K2's credit card service.

Used to be though it gave you gold according to the old formula, which wasn't a real bargain, but not a ripoff either (especially since I got a $10 surcharge added to the cost when I bought online, thanks to Moneybookers being in a foreign country).

But now apparently, a $15 card gives you 5000 gold and 4 mystery boxes, while a $30 card gives you 11000 gold and 6 mystery boxes.

(Thanks to AllyK/Delacourte for posting this)

Ah, only getting one Santa costume after all...

Instead of 5, one for each class, looks like we're only getting 1 costume


I know I'll get a lot of hate here, but we are only giving out one (based on the classes you have, yes you can submit a ticket to change them). It took us 2 weeks to get these out, if we did all 5 we wouldn't be done until summer and that would mean no events until then. So, we're just doing one.

Sorry for the confusion.

Santa suits on the way?

Reports are filtering in on the official message boards that people are starting to get them.

Sort of. Seems like people are getting one suit, of a random class.

(Still playing Atlantica. Up to level 62)

That's a relief

Take this as fact, I got this from our CEO, COO and VP of Game Operations today. SWORD OF THE NEW WORLD HAS NO INTENT OF CLOSING ANYTIME SOON!

I am sick of hearing about these rumors by former disgruntled employees. We are not closing, we have no intent to close and we have a full staff around the world working on the title on a daily basis (including myself).

I gotta say, the lack of 3.0 (or all of 2.9) has made me wonder about the future of the game. But Neume just today said the above.

I'm still having fun with Atlantica, though. Just turned 52nd and a couple days ago got my 9th Mercenary, the Beast Tamer. She's an axe wielding chick that rides a tiger. Pretty soon though I'm going to have to decide whether or not to spend money on the game. It's like Sword in that you have multiple characters. But each "room" to store a character beyond the 9 you use costs $5

Another month for 3.0?

From this thread, we have Neume quoted as saying

I make no statement on dates for a patch... but we are working on it. Unfortunately imcGames will be out until the second week of Feb for New Years soo...

Sigh. Just what is the hold up, anyway? Sword seems to be relegated to the bottom of IMC's priority list, if that.

Woot! Got Emilia the Sage...

Still taking a break from the game, but logged on to buy Emilia the Sage from a very nice fellow on the forums.

Probably paid too much (100 million plus 5 mystery boxes plus merc), but it was something I wanted just for the sake of wanting. And since I finally had ETS, had no more need for the mystery boxes (have enough ottite perfume and AA passes).

And really, wasn't doing me any good, hopefully he can put the vis and whatever he gets to good use.

Also saw I got my whatever it was they were giving away for New Years. Some sort of back accessory (which I've never used, think they are cheating, really).

3.0 coming soon?

In a recent thread on the official forums, the new K2 guy said

"Keep checking the announcements on website and forum regularly, you might have a surprise soon rolleyes.gif"

Of course, considering the amount of times Neume has said something and was wrong, it's hard to get too excited. But still...

So, looks like I'll be playing Atlantica Onilne for the next month at least...

Well, guess I'll be playing Atantica for a while, during my break from Sword.

I can definitely see myself getting sick of Atlantica, but seems like it will be fun for a while. I played during the closed beta back in August, and sort of liked it, but was put off by a number of issues, including having to re-download the client all over again (which is 2.3 gigs, which is a long time when my speed is capped. Have I mentioned lately how much I hate Verizon? Now I'm getting disconnected constantly again).

But some of the game issues they fixed. For instance, the text is no longer wacky. The community seems friendlier, and a lot more populous. There's I think 5 servers, most of which are pretty busy at any given time. That's my main complaint with Lord of the Rings Online, almost no other players (and no one that friendly) at lower levels.

I'm still not sure I like the stamina system, which limits you to roughly 100 battles a day if you are under 50th level, or 50 if you are above it. As it is, I've been running out. On the other hand, unlike I feared, they aren't selling "stamina" pills in the cash shop to let you get around it. You can regain it by simply being logged in and not fighting monsters, or fighting in PvP tournies. Or apparently by giving gifts to newer players. The latter is something nice, a lot of what they give you is junk, but one person gave me 200,000 gold (or whatever the currency is) and another 100,000, which is pretty decent amounts of money for my level.

Anyway, anyone else playing, I'm Vonradir (name of one of my alts on LOTRO) on the Thebes server.

Time for a break, I guess...

Well, the search for a new clan has been futile, with only Telos showing any interest (and much thanks to the leader of Telos, it's nice someone at least asked. And nothing against Telos, I'm just incompatible, personality wise, with one of its members, his broads drive me up a wall).

I suppose I could get in a couple others, but as my experience with Core has shown, I want a clan that actually wants me in it, and will do things with me, not one that just lets me tag along for stuff.

And despite a large number of MBs, no Emilia the Sage. I did trade one Iron Chef Panfilo for Soho the Fighter, but honestly, I get kinda bored with melee fighters these days.

So, it's either back to LOTRO (which I'm also kinda tired of, it's really grindy, so much of the player population is at max level, so the lower levels are the game are empty, making grinding the only real option to level up, as opposed to group quests), or maybe a couple other "free" MMORPGs.

Thanks to an unexpected, but sadly brief, uncapping of my speed, I was able to download the clients for both Megaten Online and Atlantica (4 gigs worth) in only a few hours. Tried Atlantica in the Closed Beta, but the client wasn't updatable once they went live for some reason, and never got around to re-downloading it again. Didn't love that game, but it wasn't bad.

Megaten Online is an offshoot of the console games. Set in Post Apocalyptic Tokyo. Seems okay, though click heavy.

My Road to Expert...(January 1st)

My XP rate for my highest Character, Alorra the Scout:
--------------------------------------------------------
Jan 3rd - 1st
Feb 3 - 44th
March 9th - 72nd
April 7th - 85th
May 3rd - 94th
June 1st - Vet 1.3%
July 5th - Vet 9.5%
August 26th - Vet 11.5%
Sept 16th - Vet 15.2%
Oct 16th - Vet 20.4%
Nov 4th - Vet 24.7%
December 1st - Vet 30%
January 1st - Vet 40.7%


XP Rate for my 2nd highest Character, Ripiel the Musketeer:
-----------------------------------------------------------
Jan 3rd - 1st
Feb 3rd - 20th
May 22nd - 64
August 25th - Vet 1.5%
Sept 25th - Vet 6.8%
Oct 8th - Vet 10%
Nov 14th - Vet 13.4%
Dec 1st - Vet 15.7%
Jan 1st - Vet 26.2%